Odds Are Never Even
by EmpowereDale
Summary: Matthew lived against his own chances. In Unova, the trainers became cutthroat. His parents supported Matthew's studies, however they had no money to buy a Pokémon. As such, his story would begin a little different... Rated M for Poképhilia, Mature language, and suggestive situations. Contains Many A Oddity In Lemons
1. Chapter 1

_~Well hello everyone, heh, that was weird...Sorry, I have NO idea what the hell even happened there with that. Hm. Anyway, I've fixed that mistake, and if you are confused, don't worry about it! Now, as for all the stuff with the other story, I'm sorry to say it is on haitus until I can get more spare time. This was surprising for me, as I didn't have anything to do, started writing, and now five chapters are planned! No schedule on updates, it'll be random. At least now you can read it all! Thanks for the patience with that all.~_

"For the tenth time, no!" Matthew's father shouted, obviously annoyed at his sixteen year old son.

The family of three lived in Accumula Town, in a two bedroom apartment. Matthew's father worked in a basic business job, and his step-mother was a retired trainer from Kalos, moving to Unova to sightsee, meeting her husband here.

"Dad, I'm sixteen, and I don't legally need a Pokémon partner to go! I just need a ball, and I already have one!" Matthew pointed out, showing the compressed Premier Ball. "Besides, everyone else has left." He was not wrong. Once all of his friends turned ten, they got Pokémon and left. Some weren't allowed until thirteen, and two tried to wait until Matthew could come, but they left too.

His father wouldn't give up. "What about Talon and that one kid that always follows him?" "His name is Connor, and they just today got their Pokémon, and not only that but the Mega stones too!" Matthew countered. "Besides, they're not exactly friends…but that's besides the point!" He paused for a moment, realizing the paradox he just spoke. He just said? Words are hard.

Just then the pair heard the door open, revealing Matthew's mom, who looked quite happy. She was from Kalos, as said before. She was a bit younger than her husband, plus she was quite attractive-D cup breasts and a surprisingly accurate hourglass figure. Matthew always wondered why she would ever stay with his father, but he did enjoy her, especially her wild and spontaneous side.

Her eyes locked on her step son. "Sorry to interrupt the annual War Of Words, but I just came to tell your father that he already signed the peace treaty."

"Wh-" His father was silenced by his wife's glare. She might not know what a Serperior is, but she'd win a stare-down with one easily.

"Now then, I heard that those two brain dead kids were leaving today, so I had a little something arranged. Go down to the Pokémon center, show them your trainer license, and they'll give you your partner, and then you will sadly have to travel with Talon and Connor to Striaton City, but do us both a favor and stay there until you have…"

"At least two members in my team, then take on the Gym?" Matthew finished. She smiled, ruffling up his short but thick dirty-blonde hair. "Yep. Now why are you still standing here! Get going, but call me when you get to Striaton!"

"I will!" Matthew grabbed his bag, which had everything basic for a trainer besides a Pokédex, and was about to leave when his eyes fell on his old Kaboken. A wooden sort of sword, used in karate, he had found and trained with for a few years now. He grabbed it, slipping it through the back belt loop of his jeans. "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" He called as he sprinted out of the door, towards the long awaited journey of his life!

Talon, a hefty boy of about 17 and his 'lackey' Conner, a little younger than Matthew, met him at the route gate. At the center, Matthew realized why his mom had him join these two instead of going off alone-his partner wasn't exactly a Pokémon yet. More precisely, an Egg. He had no clue what hatch from it, but he knew that this Pokémon would change his life. "Yo, Matt, where's your partner? Wait-you got an EGG!? Pfft." Talon chuckled at the kid, who wasn't exactly amused. "Connor, let's show em some real Pokémon."

At that, Talon called out his Houndour, and Connor called out his Electrike.

Matthew took a deep breath. "Do they have nicknames?" He asked in a monotone voice. "Mine is named Hades, Connor's Zeus." Talon was acting like it was an ingenious thing. The names were unlike what Matthew thought, but he just put a fake smile on. "Cool." He replied.

Talon and Conner were just looking for wild to defeat for experience, a practice Matthew called grinding. They would just defeat the common wild that attacked them, and it was normal battling. The entire time Matthew just followed along, often looking to his Premier ball to check the egg. It was moving slightly at rare intervals, so that gave him hope, but it would be a while. "Yo Matt, look out for any wilds that have a disadvantage against Hades. I wanna see if the overkill boost really exists."

Matthew nodded, and went off into some of the thicker forest. The 'Overkill Boost' was a new and cutthroat idea that if a Pokémon killed their opponent, without making them faint, then the victor would receive an extremely large boost of experience additional to the normal. But this was in controversy, since the fainting Pokémon would survive, but the aim of killing Pokémon would massively deplete the wild population. Matthew agreed, hoping to not find anything.

*Thikk-schluck* rang out in Matthew's ears. Moving towards the sound, he saw a Honedge who's blade had been stuck in a strong tree. It seemed weakened too, probably during a battle it had gotten stuck and then was bullied until they fainted. There was no way Matthew would let Talon hurt them. It wouldn't be fair at all.

"Hey, buddy…" Matthew quietly said, getting closer to the sword spirit. It wanted to run, flee, badly. But it merely forced itself to wiggle around in it's wooden prison. "Relax, I'm trying to help you…" Matthew attempted to say, but the Honedge was too frantic and panic stricken to understand. Matthew slowly moved his hand closer to the hilt of the sword, and when he did so the Honedge calmed down.

Taking a breath, he gripped the sword with his right hand, while his left pushed against the tree, and Matthew pulled away from the tree. He felt a soft cloth wrap itself around his wrist, then most of his arm, all the way up to the elbow. Still he tugged, trying to get this Steel/Ghost type free.

Finally, the blade was free of the tree, the sudden movement causing Matthew to fall backwards.

After the slight tumble, he smiled, looking at the Honedge. "There ya go, bud." Suddenly the Honedge looked...embarrassed. This wasn't fully clear, with only a single eye to show it, and yet it seemed clear as day to Matthew.

He heard a voice in his head, male, thank him. "Hm?" {That was I, the Honedge, as you call.}

Matthew noticed that the Pokémon was looking him in the eye. "H-how…?" he asked, baffled.

{Well, I am connected to your soul...so I can communicate as any Ghost type who is inspiriting another being would.} "Wait…" he felt the cloth shift. It was the blue cloth from the Honedge.

{I was in such a fright, I strapped around you to take your soul...but then when you freed me, I stopped myself before I could do any harm. One with a heart so kind as yours would make a great swordsman, and a master.}

"Uh, r-really?" The Honedge closed its eye in a gleeful expression. {Very much so. In fact, if my kind choose not to steal the soul of one who grips their hilt, it is forbidden that they not be the wielder of my power.} Matthew scratched his head. "Well, I guess I can't say no to that sort of rule. My name's Matthew."

{I do not have a name other than Honedge…} Matthew smirked. "How about I give you one...like Calius?" {Calius seems a fine title, thank you Matthew.}

Matthew stood up, looking around. "Hm… I may or may not be lost. Wait-oh no, how am I going to keep you from…" {Please, Matthew, speak in full thoughts.} Matthew shook his head.

"I'm sorry. My two…well the two other people who are traveling with me will attack and attempt to kill you…so I need to hide you from them." He looked at his Kaboken, and just beyond his vision lay Calius's scabbard on the ground. In a nearby tree, a Heracross was perched. "I might have an idea…"

"Bout time you showed up, empty handed?" Talon barked as a roughed up Matthew stumbled out of the bushes. In his hands was his Kaboken, and his body revealed many bruises.

Conner finally spoke up, "What the hell happened to you!?" Matthew shrugged.

"A pissed off Heracross tried to kill me. I managed to ward it off, but it still did a good bit of damage…"

Talon got angry. "You saw a Heracross and didn't call me!? Dumb as fuck, Hades would've burned it alive. Rgh, and it's late, so let's just get to Striaton and ditch this wacko." He turned, leading, as Conner followed, with a slightly limping Matthew.

His plan had worked-in all their focus on his body, and his Kaboken drawing their eyes, neither of them noticed Calius in his scabbard, hooked on his backside, in between his back and his backpack.

Just as he had said, Talon and Conner left Matthew and went back out to train on route 3. As soon as they left, Matthew shrugged off his bag and held Calius. Nurse Joy was quite surprised.

"Uh, sir, Matthew right?" Matthew was surprised-this Joy sounded the same age as him, if not younger.

"Yes, that's my name." He replied, acting as if his actions were normal.

"Why did you hide this Pokemon from your other companions?"

Matthew barely held in his laughter. "Companions is not exactly the word I would use. More like forced escorts." He continued his conversation seamlessly, though the topics were not. "Please, check for any injuries on the Honedge, I don't have a Pokéball for him…anyway, as for my escorts, they are ditching me here, and good riddance I say. Also, I have a Pokémon egg, if you could check that for safety's sake."

The nurse passed Calius and the Egg's Pokéball to her Audino, and then waved Matthew silent.

"Look, I understand, but still. What all supplies do you have?"

Matthew shrugged "Some homemade remedies, a Kaboken and some spare clothes."

"What's your balance?"

"None." Joy almost face palmed.

"You do know you are supposed to be-no, required to be provided at least 3000 credits and a Pokedex, by law, right?"

Matthew nearly laughed, but Joy's face remained as serious as before. "In all honesty, no…"

Without another word, she placed on the counter a black rectangular device, typed in some keystrokes on the nearby computer, thus turning back to him. "You should receive that amount soon, now then…"

In a swift moment, Joy flipped open the Pokédex and took Matthew's hand. She pressed his thumb down onto the device screen, and it began recording his fingerprints.

"Uh, I could do this m-myself…" Matthew murmured under his breath, but did not pull away. When both hands were completed, she looked up at him with a smile. "All d-done…" she seemed stunned at Matthew's face. A small tint of red came, but only for a second.

"Thank you, um…" Matthew took a chance. "If it wouldn't be too much to ask, could I get your name? Besides Joy, of course."

The nurse smiled. "It's Sophia. Sophia Joy."

"Thank you, Sophia." They shared a moment. Sophia's Audino returned with the Honedge and Egg.

Sophia snapped out of her daze, handing Matthew his Egg's Pokéball, as Calius floated at his trainer's side.

"Oh, also, I don't have any Pokéballs to give any trainers, but you could probably find one dropped by a careless trainer or one who just missed a capture on route 2." Matthew nodded, thanking Sophia once again, and left for route 2.

{Are you sure this was the smartest plan, Matthew?}

The teen wielded his Honedge as he navigated the darkening wooded area, similar to where he had found Calius.

"Why wouldn't it be? I saw what Pokémon are around here during the day, so what comes around at night, I wonder…" He was reminded of his new Pokédex. He took out the device, scrolling through all of Calius's stats and aspects.

The Blade Pokémon continued his argument. {I understand, but it is much more difficult to see, and we could easily become the victims of a surprise attack. Worse even, lose ourselves from the path.}

"This Pokédex has a built in GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System. It basically is a map which shows us where we are. As for the attack, relax, Calius, there is nothing we can't handle out here."

His confidence was well placed, as five straight victories came to the human/Pokémon duo. As they were nearing the end of all possible areas, Matthew saw something reflective, shining in the moonlight. At closer look, it was a Pokéball of some sort. Matthew kneeled down in the grass, picking up the object in question-it was specifically a Timer Ball-and held it towards Calius. He tapped the button, being captured with ease.

Matthew went to call him out, but then a familiar glint caught his eye. More Pokéballs, and then a Potion...in a sort of trail. He crawled over, then froze when he saw where the trail ended. A torn bag, with a dark stain on the side...if he had looked any closer, there would have been no doubt it was blood.

*grrrrrrrurGHH*

Matthew froze, as he felt a towering presence behind him. A large, clawed hand gripped his back-it took all of his will not to jump. His mind was on overdrive-based on location, size and the feeling of the grip, the Pokémon must have been a Nidoking, probably territorial. Then Matthew felt the Nido's claw break the skin, and stab into his back. Matthew saw red-he thought of his partner, still not hatched. He would protect them no matter what.

Whether his actions were fueled by protective instinct, fear, anger, or annoyance, they were still an impressive sight. Matthew lowered his back, slipping away from his assailant-though his shirt did not escape-and stood. Then, before the Nidoking could attack, Matthew swiped the arms of the territorial reptile away with his Kaboken. Stunned, but nevertheless still angry, the Nidoking came closer to slam his opponent to the ground. Matthew backstepped away, striking it's lowered head with a cleave slash-overhead, straight downward-which stunned the tank of a Pokémon long enough for Matthew to escape.

Matthew caught his breath on the side of the pathed route, leaning against a tree. His exhaustion finally caught up to him, and he slumped over. Sitting with his back against the tree, Matthew stared into the night sky. It was surprisingly silent, apart from a quiet noise...that seemed to come from below Matthew. Then his partner's Premier Ball rattled.

He called out the Egg without hesitation, holding it close to his chest. It was hatching, no doubt. Matthew was beyond excited, and he nearly shouted when the first crack formed. Then another. Instead of a head popping out, though, a small hole collapsed inward. Inside, the faint tapping of little legs could be heard. Then a pair of bright yellow-ish, almost a golden amber sort of tint, eyes peered out at him.

"H-hey…" he murmured, which brought the newly hatched Pokémon outside its shell. As it crawled out, Matthew saw their body for the first time. The Pokémon was an insect type body, with a sort of hunchback curvature, a scarlet purple color dominated the top and the underbody was black. Two large antenna like horns flowed back on its head, and two tail fins were slightly swaying behind it. The lower body was a dark forest like green with black stripes. Black accents gave the purple body a sort of predatory look, while also making Matthew more happy to have such a partner. His Pokédex buzzed, but he didn't dare look away.

"Hi there…welcome to the world." The insect tilted its head with a questioning glance. Again Matthew's Dex buzzed-he picked it up out of annoyance. It was informing him of the type and stats of his partner. "A Venipede, female...wait, what does '93.5 percent IV' mean? Ah whatever…" he pocketed the annoying encyclopedia, gently petting his Venipede, who gave a sort of vibration-like sound which reminded him of a purr. "My name's Matthew, now all you need is a name…" he thought, absentmindedly petting the pleased insect.

"How about Mina? Does that sound good…?" He was cut off by the ten pound insect crawling onto his chest, her face was inches away from his. "Veni…" she sighed, nuzzling into his shirt. Matthew's heart skipped a beat-this was so adorable to him, he almost forgot all the hardships he had been through. This moment made up for it all. "M-Mina it is…" He wrapped an arm around the centipede Pokémon, soon falling victim to sleep…


	2. Chapter 2

_~Woah another chapter!? I thought this man died! __Surprise surprise, I'm alive and stuck in a car share road trip for a good nine hours. I should fly more often...well, at least this gave me a free time to finish up this chapter. Hope you enjoy! ~_

Matthew woke up groggily, the sun streaming through the leafy foliage of the tree he sat under. He looked down to see Mina, fast asleep. Her sleeping face was so peaceful, it would have felt like a crime to wake her. Matthew gently pet her head, brushing against her horns slightly, which caused her to make the same purr sound as before. Slowly, she woke up, humming at the attention.

"Morning, Mina." The Venipede happily gave a sort of chirp to her trainer. Then her stomach growled, making her blush-but in a sort of purple tint. Matthew gave a small laugh, placing the insect on his head. "My thoughts exactly:let's get some food."

Upon their arrival to the Pokémon center, Sophia's face lit up at the sight of the new Pokémon.

"Hai, Matthew. Who's this little one?"

"Mina, my Partner. Oh, also, I got a ball for Calius, so if you could just give them both a checkup?"

Sophia nodded, taking Calius's timer ball and Matthew went to put Mina in her ball, but stopped.

"Uh...actually, could you just do it here?"

Sophia nodded, willingly. Mina was placed on the counter, sniffing Sophia's hand. Meanwhile, Matthew read Mina's information more in depth. She knew three attacks-Rollout, Defense Curl, and Venoshock. Her stats were impressive to Matthew, even at only level 3. Then he remembered the IV reading.

"Excuse me, Sophia, I'm just asking for the sake of curiosity-what is the IV percentage reading?"

She looked up for a moment, then returned to her examination. "IV is the overall stat score based on the species "ultimate" potential. If the ultimate Venipede has a certain number of stats, then that is one-hundred percent IV."

"Is that very rare?"

"I'd say-no Pokémon I've ever seen had an IV percentage above seventy." She finished her examination, now looking at Matthew. "Your Mina is very healthy, she also has Pokérus, so it would be best to train her as much as possible."

"You hear that Mina?" He asked the Venipede, who was staring up at her trainer expectantly. "Let's get to it." He lifted her up onto his head, where she happily snuggled into his dirty blonde hair. "Oh, and Sophia, you have now seen a Venipede with more than ninety percent IV. Thank you!" With that, and Calius's Pokéball, he left.

The rest of the day was spent training. Mina was at first unaccustomed to the idea of fighting at all, but she was a natural after Calius gave her a demonstration against a wild Patrat. Soon she found her rhythm and seemed to move faster every turn in every battle she had. When it was about noon, Matthew decided that all the arduous work they did called for a break. To be fair, he had been training alongside them, even sparring against Calius, of course Mina assisted him, and he had his Kaboken.

Matthew pulled out the towel he had in his bag, spreading it out across the grassy ground. He put out bowls of food for Mina and Calius (he said he was hungry, and Matthew wasn't about to question it) and sat down in the grass. He laid back, so that his upper body was on the towel, including his head, while still leaving room for Mina and Calius, if they wished, to lay on the towel as well.

Checking his Pokédex, he noted that Mina had risen from level three to level sixteen in the one day, and not even all of it. Matthew partly drew this as a given, since she was a bug type, but still, the little Venipede had really worked hard. Feeling her expectant gaze on him again, Matthew turned his head on the side to face her. Apparently, she was a lot closer than expected, and his nose touched what he assumed to be her nose. He blushed visibly-for what reason, he didn't know why, but something pulled at his heart. Mina merely blinked, then crawled up onto his chest to lay down. He smiled at her content sigh, Mina slightly snuggling into his shirt. Just then, Matthew figured out what that feeling was. Love.

This was a guess, probably mixed with adoration, but still, from what the Pokédex told him, Venipede's don't get this friendly with even their trainers. Only with their mates, do they have any physical contact more than necessary, at least that without malice driving it. Was Mina feeling that sort of attraction? Did he return the feeling? Should he do something to show his feelings?

As questions bounced around Matthew's head like tennis balls in a shaken-up box, Mina had already fallen asleep. Truth be told, she did like him more than a trainer-besides, the way he cuddled up to her, cradling her in his warm embrace as if she was more important than his life, made her heart race. Even though he did this in his sleep, for all Mina knew, it was a sign enough.

"Well well, look who it is."

Matthew's eyes shot open-it was Talon's voice. He didn't sit up, as to not disturb Mina. "What do you want, Talon?"

"Wouldn't you know, punk? The same thing as before. Free experience. Hades has a nice advantage over both your Pokémon, so I don't care which you use."

"So, you're challenging me."

"I'm allowing you to choose between an actual battle or just beating the living shit out of you without your consent."

Matthew sighed, gently setting Mina aside on the towel. He stood and was about to call Calius over when the Venipede leapt onto his shoulder.

"M-Mina?" The Venipede gave a battle-ready nod. Matthew laughed inwardly at her protective nature, then prepared his strategy.

The battle was immediately on full effect. Hades was more than ready to blast an Ember attack at Centipede Pokémon. Matthew was two steps ahead. "Mina, use Rollout, avoid the flames!" Immediately, the little bug was off like a runaway boulder, the fire type attack missed and soon enough Mina hit Hades with a super effective attack.

There was no stopping the insect now, as rollout was in full effect. Hades couldn't keep up with her speed as the Venipede slammed into the dark and fire type around four times, dealing a substantial amount of damage. But still, Hades stood strong, probably due to the amount of forced training that was implemented.

"Fucking no way, you'd lose to a bug, Hades!"

Matthew smiled gently at his opponent. "Oh, there is. It's called strategy, diligence, and most of all, the fact that I know what I'm doing!"

"You don't know jack shit, Matt! You have two Pokémon and have had them for a day! I've had Hades for longer! And we've beaten more enemies than you!"

"Training isn't always just beating wild Pokémon or other trainers. It's a mental thing, if you would just think for once maybe this wouldn't happen!"

Talon turned his attention back to the battle only to be greeted by Hades, rolling to a stop at his trainers' feet. He wasn't fainted, but still, they were struggling considerably. He gritted his teeth, using a Super Potion and sending his hound Pokémon back in. Mina's rollout had finally ended, and her speed was risen almost to max. Hades snarled, almost as enraged as Talon at the fact that he was losing.

"Hades, use Ember!" The dog barked in affirmation as a considerable sized flame body was sent towards it's targeted Venipede. Matthew was beyond prepared.

"Mina, dodge it!" The moment when the Venipede sidestepped, another Ember attack suddenly hit her off-guard, sending her reeling in surprise and pain.

Talon had a smug look on his face, more so than usual.

"Now Hades, Flame Charge! Burn that bug into ashes!"

Matthew didn't have time to think about how a Houndour learned Flame Charge so early, or how much damage Mina took. His strategy was countered, and so he went with the best weapon any trainer has at this moment-his gut.

"Mina, jump over Hades and use Poison Sting!" What he ment was to do it mid-air, so that there would be no room for a counterattack. Despite his inconsistent command, the message got through.

Fully focused on the battle, Mina leapt over the ablaze charging canine, leaving just enough distance for her head to duck down, and despite the flames that lashed at her face, nipped fiercely on the Houndours backside. With a stumbling slide, Mina landed relatively well. Hades was oblivious to the bite, only that Flame Charge missed. He shook his head, turning back to see a scary, fearless glare in the Venipede's eyes. Matthew saw it too, and it was a little unsettling.

Then suddenly, Hades winced in internal pain. The one Poison Sting had inflicted poison, much to the luck of Matthew and Mina. Now they had some breathing room.

Talon grunts in defiance, then refocuses. By focus, I mean got pissed off.

"Flame Charge, then Ember, no break!" Hades braced-doing two different moves so closely together strained his abilities. Any Pokémon would feel the same. More so for a fire type, as their internal flame that fuels all the fire type capabilities is not eternal. Still, Hades could not disobey his trainer.

With a bark, the Houndour sprinted fearlessly at Mina, flames spiraling and surrounding the dog Pokémon as he sped up.

Matthew saw what was about to happen. It was too late, Mina wouldn't be able to dodge fast enough, and if she did the Ember attack would finish her before she could reach the ground. "Defense Curl, Mina!" The Venipede squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the attack. Then something miraculous happened.

Hades cringed from a pang of poisonous affliction, causing him to stumble, which cut his speed and sent him skirting to the side. The attack that hit Mina was a wiff compared to the actual Flame Charge. Still, she was sent back slightly, surprised she wasn't toast, but still focused on the battle. Hades, who was laying on the ground from the previous move, shot out the Ember.

"Mina, Rollout!" Like a speeding bullet, Mina spun line mad, evading the fire type attack and slamming into Hades for the final blow. Mina was sent backwards, slightly into the air, as Hades was pushed back and finally dropped his head, fainted. Mina shortly landed about two feet from Matthew.

"Tch, lucky bastard…" Talon remarked nothing more, as he returned Hades and darted off. As Matthew was about to stop him for the prize money, he shook his head spotting a couple credits Talon had dropped.

"That was a close one…" Matthew absently kneeled and gently set his hand on Mina's back. An unwise choice.

Started by the sudden contact, and still in a violent rush, Mina defensively spun around and latched her mouth onto his arm, breaking the skin and injecting some poison into his blood. Matthew winced slightly but didn't pull away. Mina almost immediately had stopped her poison attack but was took shaken up to release him. However, the shock of what Matthew did next nearly sent her mind into a shutdown.

Seemingly unfazed by the bite, Matthew scooped his Venipede into his arm, while he pets her with his other hand the best he could with her grip. She soon calmed down enough to release his arm, licking at the bite apologetically. Matthew smiled contently, walking back to the Pokémon center.

Nurs-er, I mean Sophia, wasn't surprised to see Matthew cradling a sleepy Venipede, who was happily snuggled into his shirt, as we walked in. What did surprise her was the fact that he looked as spent as the Venipede, if not more so.

"My, what have you been doing out there?" She questioned, honestly curious.

"Just training and a couple battles. Calius is sort of a different balance than my Kaboken, but I got used to it."

She blinked as she placed Mina and Calius inside the medial treatment mechanism (basically where the Pokéballs go to heal the Pokémon). "Wait, so you fought and trained with your Pokémon? And you used Calius like a normal sword, even though it is said to steal the soul of any who touch its hilt?"

He nodded. "It's said, but Calius informed me that if someone with a good soul and a strong will wields it, and the Honedge doesn't steal their soul, they are the prophecized worthy enough to fight alongside the sword. Those aren't his words exactly, I'm paraphrasing, but you get the gist of it."

Sophia handed him back his Pokéballs, dumbfounded. Her mind was jolted back into function when she spotted a certain wound on Matthew's forearm. Thanks to her medical training, she was able to identify it by sight as a poison wound. "Matthew, you're poisoned!" She reached out for his arm, but he pulled it away, out of her reach.

"I'm fine, I have an antidote in case things go south."

"'In case'!? You're already poisoned, what do you mean 'go south'?"

"Do I really have to explain myself to you…?" Matthew's tone was that of cautionary honesty, not remotely sarcastic. He had learned to watch his tone from years of unreasonable punishments because of his hostile unintentional tone of voice, courtesy of his stepmother.

"Yes, obviously."

Matthew took a breath, blowing some air to collect his thoughts.

"Mina was merely stuck in the fight mindset. She meant no harm, but if this happened again and I relied on Antidotes, sooner or later I'd get caught without an antidote and too far from any medical center. Instead of snuffing out the poison immediately, I let my immune system have a chance at the problem. Even if I do eventually have to use the antidote, at least my body will have adjusted somewhat to the poison. Better than relying on the availability of Pecha berries or any other remedy."

For seconds, both were silent. Sophia then nodded, much to Matthew's surprise. "As long as you're not killing yourself with it...just be careful, you're playing with dangerous forces."

"I'm a trainer. I literally play with a haunted sword because he's bored. I play with dangerous forces as a part of my job." They laugh at the reality of the situation. "But in all seriousness, thank you for caring, Sophia." All that escapes her lips after that was a sharp inhale as Matthew bid her goodnight, walking off to his room.

Matthew sat on the edge of the bed, in his sleep clothes, seemingly in thought as he watched Mina eat.

His arm was bothering him, but not more so than the rest of his body. He felt the effects of the poison all over. It wasn't eating him from the inside-out or anything like that, but he knew it was there. A bottle of Antidote was at the foot of the bed. Matthew still undecided on whether he would use it or not. On one hand, he could just train Mina not to bite him...no, that would take disciplinary methods, he thought, and besides, she did nothing wrong…he'd rather make it so that if it happened again, nothing terrible would come of it.

Matthew was brought out of his musings by his curious centipede Pokémon, obviously she had noticed his thoughtless muttering.

"Sorry, Mina, talking out loud again…" Mina nodded, and at that Matthew picked up his partner and laid back, with her on his chest. Mina made that familiar high pitched 'purr' sound, almost like a buzz now, Matthew noticed.

He also noticed that she was sniffing around, as if a certain sent had worried her. Then Matthew realized what she smelled when she crawled over to his arm, sniffing at the bite wound she caused. It was bandaged, as Matthew didn't want any infection (any more than the poison already intermingled with his own bodily fluids) and the bleeding was still a minor problem. She nudged the bandage aside (it was wrapped gauze, not the normal strap bandage) and sniffed again, then as if she had confirmed her suspicion, sniffed the air again. Matthew watched the spectacle out of sheer curiosity.

Mina stared straight at the bottle of antidote, and with a prompt hop off Matthew, she pushed the bottle from the foot of the bed to Matthew.

"Veni! Venipede." She cried, alerting her trainer of the situation.

"Mina, you really want me to use the Antidote?"

She nodded with finality. With the look she had in her eyes, Matthew felt like he was going to have to do as she said one way or another.

Grabbing the antidote with the hand of his unharmed arm, he hesitated. "Mina, I'm just going to use half. I don't need the entire thing. Right?"

Mina gestured for him to lower the open bottle, which he did. She sniffed again, then sniffed the wound. She nodded.

Matthew was blown away. Was her scent of smell and intellect so vast as to be able to determine the concentration of a anti-venom as normal as a stock antidote compared to the poison in the bloodstream!? Even the professional chemist must triple check through numerous experiments. She seemed so sure…

Matthew applied half the antidote to his bandage, then reapplies the bandage. Right when he did so, stinging pain caused him to take a sharp inhale. This antidote was no joke, how could Pokémon deal with that!?

He laid back down, and soon felt Mina cuddle up into his shoulder. He lifted his arm and held her in its crook. It felt like they had been through everything-to be honest, Mina had spent her whole life outside that egg with him.

That made Matthew remember a random thing. Some Scolipede held eggs inside their bodies for a considerable time, from 10 to 25, if he remembered correctly. He'd have to see how old she really was, but that could wait until tomorrow...right now, what concerned him most was keeping both warm. As he pulled the covers over them, she cooed in appreciation, nuzzling into him. Matthew gave a meek smile, and finally let himself go to sleep.

_~hm, word count of fucking 3045!? That happened. Yay, the story isn't dead! I'm still trying on the "An Adventure to Cherish" story, but not much progress has been made...as always, leave a review, tell me what you think, and I'm always open to any lemon suggestions or storylines. Have a suggestion? My PM is always open. _

_In respect to the story, there's at least one or two more chapters before a true lemon...hint hint. And, to one certain reader from the Cherish story, this one WILL be a harem and the such, merely because the plot is fine with this one if he goes around and gets 'bUsY' as said by Syndrome in the Incredibles. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and see you all next time. (EmpowereDale)~_


	3. Chapter 3

_~wew, it's Christmas! At least, when I'm starting to write this...anyway, I want a better writing schedule, Santa…yeah, that or probably a laptop so I can write on the go and not type on my phone hah. Anyway, here's the next chapter…written while listening to "Welcome to the Party" from Deadpool 2~_

As moonlight streamed through the bedroom window, invisible figures took their marks in the shadows. After a couple of minutes of audible shuffling outside, Matthew woke up. Sensing something was off, he relented to his caution and looked around. It seemed to be around midnight or past, but the sun had not yet risen. Mina was asleep, but Calius had awoken from his dormancy, sensing the same sort of danger as Matthew.

Then the center shook.

Calius immediately got up and tossed Matthew his bag. If he wasn't awake before, he was now. Matthew cradled Mina, who was now awoken too, in one arm while the other grabbed his jeans. "Mina, hold onto my head." The Venipede nodded in obedience, also hearing the slight fear in his voice.

When Matthew made it down the stairs, he saw Sophia taking Pokémon and some Pokéballs from the intensive care units held in the back to the outside, where Officer Jenny waited on her bike.

"Need some help?" Matthew rhetorically asked, gently picking up a passed out Growlithe and striding alongside the frantic Nurse. "Thank you, Matthew." She said, continuing her efforts. "Apparently a group of criminals or terrorists are attacking Striaton City. The police are overwhelmed and evacuations are mandatory…"

With the last of the Pokémon safely on their way out of the city, Sophia turned to Matthew and motioned to Officer Jenny's motorbike. "Matthew, follow us…" Suddenly Matthew noticed a shadow come over the nurse...from where the moon was…

"SOPHIA, LOOK OUT!"

Time moved slow. Matthew lunged, shoving Sophia away from him. He glanced at his left-a huge piece of rubble was hurtling towards him. To his right was the Pokémon center. Yeah, this was gonna hurt.

…

Mina looked around, having recovered from her recent tumble. Matthew's leap had thrown her from his head. However, her trainer was nowhere to be found. That nurse, the pink-haired one, she was crying and acting delirious as she got on that two-wheeled vehicle. Suddenly it clicked. Mina spun around to see a good chunk of rubble protruding from the crippled center. Only one word went through her head: 'MATTHEW!?'

…

"Ugh, wait…" Matthew painfully sat up, amidst fires and loose wires. He tested all his limbs. Legs good, right arm good...nope. He cursed his hindsight as his attempt to move his left arm elicited a scream in pain. A piece of the ceiling crashed down not too far from him. He played back the events right before the rubble hit-while he saw Sophia fall to safety, he saw Mina had fallen off his head, also to safety. Matthew looked over at the huge boulder-like projectile responsible for his situation. What's worse, it blocked the entire exit. "M-Mina…" he coughed, staggering slightly as he limped over to lean against the heavy piece of debris. He knew that the center would collapse soon, and as such he would do best to send Calius out. Much to his luck, Matthew saw a small crack in the wall aside the rubble, just big enough to fit a Pokéball. He rolled Calius's Timer Ball out, and as soon as he did, a familiar scattering of small legs was heard. 'P-pede?' Mina cried out from the outside. "Mina, j-just go! Make sure you and Calius are safe...f-find Sophia, just go!" 'Veni!' She started, defiantly. "No! I'm not letting you waste your life on me!" His voice got choked up. "You mean too much to me!"

Mina was silent for a moment, but then Matthew heard the sound of her legs growing quieter as she left. Matthew sighed, flipping to lean his back against the wall. He sat there, feeling the warm feeling of his blood leaking from his left arm as the center was collapsing around him. "So this is how I go, huh…*cough* at least I did it saving someone…" He tilted his head up, not looking at anything particular but then again, his vision was blurry by now.

"Hey, Arceus, if you do exist…" He said, half-delirious. "Make sure Mina has a great life...and make sure she finds someone who loves her as much as I do…" His voice cracked out to nothing, as he drifted off…

_***CRASH***_

All he saw was black around him. Matthew stood in what seemed like a void, where nothing existed but him.

"Wait. So no light, great. Where's the door to hell then…?" He heard a voice. It sounded distant and feminine. She seemed desperate.

Matthew felt his heart pulled at by this voice. He felt compelled to comfort them. Taking a hesitant step forward to find solid ground (everything was pitch black) he began sprinting towards the voice. He couldn't see them, only his ears led him. Then, for some reason, Matthew felt like he knew the voice. It wasn't Sophia, his mom or anyone he had met before and actually talked to. This voice…

...knew him.

"Please...don't leave me, Matthew…"

"I...lo...ou…"

Matthew saw a glimmer of two golden yellow eyes.

"Mina?"

...

Sunlight streamed through Matthew's eyelids, much to his annoyance. He slit one eye open to see the blinds cracked open with white curtains slightly flapping. In fact, just about everything in the room was white. _{Wait,}_ thought Matthew, _{this isn't the Pokémon center room…}_

In fact, it was a hospital room. Matthew sat up, but a pang in his back told him it was a bad idea. He laid back down.

The door opened, and in cane Sophia. She had her hair down, which suited her a good bit. "Y-you're awake?" "It would appear so. What happened…?"

"Matthew, they said you were a lost cause...your immune system was pretty ragged...and yet here you are...Arceus, you don't even have a broken bone on you!" It was true. Even Matthew was shocked at how his left arm, which was a mangled mess of bone shards and ravaged flesh last he saw, was a perfect and healthy appendage. He even felt a bit more muscle than before.

A small being shifted under the covers next to him. The vibration-like purr brought relief and joy to Matthew like never before. Mina was happily snuggled up to him, sleeping peacefully.

"None of us could separate her from you, Matthew." A masculine voice stated as the doctor stepped into the room. "Nurse Joy, some of the refugees could use your assistance, while I inform Mr. Miracle here of what happened." Sophia nodded and left.

"So, Doc, why am I Mr. Miracle?"

"Sir, I'll be blunt, you were as good as dead when we found you. Your arm was blasted to hell, and you definitely had a good bit of internal bleeding."

"Wait, how did you get into the Pokémon center?"

"In? Oh, no, that center was nothing but rubble. First responders and rescue teams found you next to the center, with that Venipede of yours. Now, before I go on, I need to ask- have you ever been bitten and poisoned by her before?"

"Yes, once."

"And you waited a while before applying any antidote?"

Matthew nodded.

"That explains it. Matthew, your choice more than likely saved your life. That and your Venipede's generous 'donation' of her venom."

"Wait, she was what?"

The doctor coughed. "I'll try and explain it. Your immune system and recovery...unit, per say, was already used to the specific poison. By the time the antidote was applied, your system was able to take down the weakened venom and even convert it into a sort of healing agent. Capable of restoring damaged calcium far beyond the human ability. Now, when you arrived here, it was lucky you were my patient. I'm the only specialist that would have noticed this."

"Mina knew your body could use her poison as recovery. That's the reason she poisoned you. By then, all I could do was deliver a sort of adrenaline to your immune system and pray. Any other operation would be much more risky."

"So, you're telling me that I was saved by Mina?"

"Well, in a sense."

The room was silent except for Mina's light snoring.

"Anyway," the doctor continued, "you should be fully recovered in about an hour, so I'll leave you until then."

Matthew looked down. Mina had since stirred to keep clinging his side possessively. After gently petting her down her back, she awoke, staring deeply into Matthew's eyes. She had tears in those amber eyes of hers.

For some reason, Matthew impulsively kissed her tears away. He didn't really think about what he was doing. It just felt right.

Mina purred, then placed her own mouth onto his. He froze up. Vibrations and warmth invaded his senses as Mina hummed onto his lips. He didn't draw back though. Matthew just closed his eyes, cradled his Venipede, and in all honesty, enjoyed this kiss he shared with Mina.

…

Matthew had to sign some papers, and after that he was released into the care of a local nurse until all recovery was complete. Who that nurse was, Matthew had an idea. Which was confirmed when Sophia walked up aside him.

"Hey, Matthew...I'm relieved that you're okay…also…" she swiftly pecked his cheek "that's for saving me."

Mina growled at this invasion on her trainer, but Matthew calmed her with a chin-scratch. "So, Sophia, where am I, and how long have I been out?"

"Well...the closest hospital was in Accumula Town, so that's where we are."

"You didn't answe the second question."

Sophia bit her lip.

"How long was I passed out?"

"You were unconscious for a month."

Matthew took a breath.

"I have to visit my family. And I'll fill you in on my past on the way."

…

Matthew knocked on his parents apartment door, before letting himself in.

If you've ever walked in on your parents having sex, first off I'm sorry for what you went through. Secondly, Matthew would much rather walk into that right now.

Has it been mentioned that Matthew's step-mother was very attached to, and enthusiastic about, Pokémon and her Pokémon specifically? Well, those of you who read between the lines there win the bet.

Matthew hurriedly returned Mina before she could spot Matthew's busty, naked stepmother on the couch, getting her pussy pounded by her Greninja, who was fondling one of her breasts with his long tongue. As in, his tongue had wrapped her malleable orb.

Matthew was happy that his stepmom was too far into a fuck-drunk stupor to register his presence, and as such he passed by the pair silently to return to his room. He blocked out the sounds of their romping, concentrating on gathering up any money he saved up and left in case of a setback. Matthew learned a good bit about using his ingenuity and a little extra thought in order to make some money, that and get by in life in general. By making homemade remedies for Pokémon status effects and stat products-Calcium and Carbos are the least tricky to make-and selling them to trainers, he raised a safe little sum of 20,000 credits, which he sadly had to take and utilize. Shielding his eyes from the explicit scene unfolding on the living room couch, Matthew left the apartment and shut the door behind him.

As he descended the stairs of the apartment complex, Matthew thought hard about his situation. Sure, he was back to square one, but he could always just travel back to Striaton City, right? Plus, that gives more time to train Mina and Calius.

…

"Matthew. We need to discuss exactly what's become of Striaton…"

Sophia sat Matthew down on a bench, in the small park area of the town.

"Sure, what exactly DID become of it?"

"The city is held captive by some criminal organization calling themselves Team Steam. No one knows what they want or why they took Striaton, but this video came out today…"

Sophia showed Matthew a cell phone video, showing a multitude of cloaked figures-cloaks consisting of white bases and orange outlines-fighting back police forces, then it became aware to Matthew three of them were far too familiar…

Three brothers, the leaders of the Striaton gym, had adorned the cloaks of the enemy, and was fighting alongside them.

"No one knows how or why…" Sophia started, but Matthew stood up. "M-Matthew?"

He turned back with a look of determined vigor in his eyes.

"Where evil rules, a hero must arise. Even if I'm not that hero, I won't stand by and do nothing. Thank you for everything you've done. Now, I need to train up. My best bet is that Steam wants Accumula Town sooner or later. If no one acts, it'll fall to. Now, I'm gonna train my team. Will you help me?"

Sophia stood up with him. The fierce action impressed the stubborn trainer. "Of course."

"Then let's begin."

...meanwhile, in Striaton…

A cloaked Steam member, who's black spiked hair was let to be seen, as the Admin wasn't burdened to always have his hood up. "How long until we send the next wave of grunts to Accumula?"

A lesser member addressed the Admin. "Tomorrow in the evening, we will strike."

"Good," the Admin replied. "I've heard that most of the survivors escaped there. So time to make sure they know Team Steam takes cowardly fleeing prey without mercy."

"Yes, sir."

_~To be honest, I'm not sure how this chapter is, but next chapter is gonna get even more hectic. There should be a lemon in the next three chapters, and a small incident. Hm. My head says no but I also say yes.~_


End file.
